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Sunday, April 22, 2007

The face of a clown

I'm a bit concerned that I may not be able to find time to sew the 50's dress to wear to the RetroRama party. I did manage to get the bodice pattern altered, a bodice muslin sewn, and the dress pieces cut out. However, I have not had any time for actual sewing yesterday or today as I had events scheduled both days.

Yesterday was work but today was fun. I, along with five other clowns, volunteered at a dance for special needs adults. A few skits, a few balloon animals, a magic trick or two, but mainly smiling, talking, and dancing with the guests.

As I put my face on this morning, I took a few photos to document the process. Its not difficult, just a bit time consuming. I use Ben Nye clown makeup and apply with sponges, finger tips and brushes. My character is an Auguste clown so I use a light pink Auguste paint in addition to white, red, and black.

I begin with a clean face, no makeup, no moisturizer, pull my hair off of my face and remove my contacts. White is applied on the areas of my face that are white. I then set the white makeup by applying powder, dusting off the excess powder, spritzing water all over my face, and lightly sponging any powder that may remain.

Next I apply the pink Auguste and red paint and set it in the same way I set the white makeup.

The black is painted on with a small brush outlining and defining the cheeks, eyes, and mouth. I don't use fake eyelashes so I also use the black to paint eyelashes on the corners of my eyes. After the black is applied I set it with powder and water.

Many clowns only powder once, after they've applied all of their makeup, but when I've tried to do that I've smeared my face. So I take the extra time to set it after each color. The amazing thing is that if the clown makeup is set properly, you can march in a 90 degree F parade or get caught in a rainstorm and the make up will not smear or run.

The final step is to glue on my nose, put on my pink hair, add my crooked crown and Princess D. Clown is ready to spread joy and laughter.

This was the first time I had volunteered at an event for special needs adults. I typically work with children, but my dad has clowned for this group before and he said it will be one of the best timesI ever have as a clown. We even had a Joey with us today! (A Joey is a new clown.) My sister, a bit reluctantly, joined in the fun for the first time, and, well, she's now hooked. What can I say? It runs in the family.

Some people wonder why I bother to clown. After all, it takes an hour to put on my face, time to drive to an event and there's no monetary compensation.

2 comments:

Sharon,I really enjoyed your clowning entry, my mother was a clown and did clown ministry. She was Suzy the Love Clown. Thanks for reminding me of her and her joyous attitude toward life. Keep clowning!Denise